New Life Games Tech Forums

Just got this one, damn thing actually works! :92-
Internally filthy, lots of dust, cobwebs, and dead spiders.
Took it apart just enough to take pics; I want to clean it up
and learn about operation, option selection, etc.
It has an Omega Products 903 board, and the PROMS are marked 23.9 A, B, C, & D.
Does anyone have a manual for it?

(Funny thing: I don't even like  video poker, but this darn hobby gets me reaching for
my wallet anytime I see something with an Insert Coin slot and a payout tray :279- )

More pics

Some more pics.
Curious about the coin mech: it takes quarters, but not .984 brass tokens.
Can it be modified/adjusted? (Well, maybe there's that manual thing again... :25- )

Unlike a coin comparator where you have a sample coin, you have a coin acceptor.
Looks like it's currently a quarter acceptor. To accept token of .984 you will need a .984 acceptor. I can look and see if I have one.

Thanks, Neonkiss.
Yes, it looks  like a modernized version of the diameter/thickness/weight coin
acceptors I've seen in older mechanical reel slots; maybe just a bit more modern.
When I got it, it was jammed with a French
1 Franc coin, slightly smaller in diameter, but thicker, than a US quarter.

Interestingly, the hopper doesn't seem to care: happily pays out .984".
Makes sense for it to be looser than the coin acceptor: at payout time, it's
a little bit late for rejections.

If your looking for a good coin acceptor, get your self the Black Imonex acceptors. I like them because they hardly ever jam, and they work great with my quarter size tokens. I just pop out the small round magnet since token are steel, and when I sell the machine it works with quarters or the tokens. They do come in the .984 token size too.

Gary

Well, Crapski, comrade. Was screwing around with it, poking various buttons like a typical mechanical engineer idiot, and
managed to launch it into some kind of test mode.  :279-

It's telling me that my RAM is OK.  Cheese, I know that: I just had a 100,000 mile checkup on my Dodge van, and she's good to go.

Now I really need a manual, or at least an owner's guide. 903 board, 23.9 chips. :99-

Check your mail
 :172-

Oh, thank you sir! Now I know the Secret Buttons to push. :131-

Now if only I could learn to stop randomly pushing buttons to see what they do..... :25-

Pushing the wrong button can cause big problem if your not careful..    :98-

Garry

Hi
Got your PM on the DIP switch settings. Thought I'd just post them here in case others need to know. I hope this helps! I will work on scanning the entire manual soon. If you need more now, let me know and I will browse and scan. :)

DIP switch #2

ShortTracker, thank you very much; I greatly appreciate the assistance.
However, the pages you post are from the Version 51.0X manual, same as from
Neonkiss.  Very helpful generally, but much newer than my machine, so the Dipswitches
are different, and so is accessing the "Learning" or software setup screen.

I may have a seriously early unit: 903 RevB board and 23.9 chips. Has two dipswitch sets:
SW1 appears to be clock or commo rate: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, and 9600.
All are depressed on the left.

SW2 lists OPT1, OPT2, OPT3, OPT4, OPT5, ARST, VPOL, and HPOL.
Only OPT1 and OPT3 are depressed on the left.

From reading every CEI-related entry on this site, it seems 23.9 and/or 903 board manuals
have been uploaded multiple times, only to disappear soon afterward. There may be a copyright problem with them.

If no one will repost them, or send me a copy, I will attempt to write my own manual by simply flipping switches and taking
notes. If I don't blow the durn thing up, I should be able to post a fresh non-protected manual for others with this unique configuration.
(Or if someone can deliver an original manual, I can "re-write" it to bypass copyright; Lord knows I did enough of that stuff as a "reverse engineering" manager. :58-)

Anyway, thanks again to you Shortrackskater for helping out in this complex time of your life;
and thanks again Neonkiss for your helpful input as well.

I'll wait a couple of days, then start flipping switches & poking buttons;
after crossing fingers, toes, testicles, and anything else I can cross.  :)

 :172-
Check your mail.
I found an older manual

No problem. I'll keep following this post! :)
 :310-

"Curioser and curioser, said Alice..."

Neonkiss, thanks: that manual is a lot closer, and includes a huge
amount of useful information, some of which I've already been able to use.

But it still refers to a later generation of software and logic board, so I still
can't diddle with options like DoubleUp and Max Coins Playable.

Interestingly, I also purchased a manual from Coinslots.com. It's very detailed
about the options available on the 23.9 chips. It also specifically details how to
access them on the 903 board, and it's absolutely wrong!!!. The pictures
of the alleged 903 board bear little resemblance to mine, and the verbal (no pic) of
the inside switchbox also does not match.

With my luck, I've got a late machine that someone stuck ancient boards in; or a factory
prototype/test unit; or one that was attacked by a zombie engineer one Sunday morning
when the casino was closed.... :200-

Ah, well; thank you once again for digging into your apparently vast library of neat stuff;
I'll keep digging myself. Eventually something will connect, or I'll write my own darn manual.

Sounds like you could have a Frankenstein   :303-  Machine, made from parts from a couple different machines. I'm just starting to work on a Fortune II draw poker from early 1987, but it seems that someone in its life time has replaced the CRT and mounting frame. I've got hand cut and drilled mounting bracket on the shelve so they could mount an earlier CRT and power supply.  :25-  Hopefully the donor machine shelve fit this machine..

Gary

Hoboy, went to The Guru for help: spoke with Larry Weber of K-Lar in Vegas; he actually advertises that he repairs CEI boards including the 903,
and has been spoken highly of on this forum. Described the machine (23.9 chips on 903-B board, 10-button front door, internal panel with Test,
Audit, Dispute, and HandPay buttons but no Menu) Asked how to get to Learning screen or otherwise set up DoubleUp option.

[By the way, this guy is great: spoke with me and went through various tests for a good 15 minutes on the 'phone, knowing darn well
I did not have a paying job like a board repair to send him.]

Unfortunately, the bottom line was "don't know on this one. Most every CEI machine we get is slightly different; they used the Omega boards
and chips, but often used different hookups or special program mods. Some you even had to key in a 4-digit access code number, and you don't
want to know what that involves! Board kit is probably original: those chips on that level board and that internal switchbox is about right for the
manufactured date."

Well, Fooey! I guess I learned some things but now, even though everything works, I now have a huge thirst to get the DoubleUp option going,
as described in a 23.9 chip description.

Turns out this rig is about identical to the one josie88 had in his Jan 2009 posts; he has a 904 board, but it has the same Options dipswitches.
He was asking the same question. I'll PM him to see if he ever got it figured out.

Stay tuned.....

I will stand by my answer to Josie88 Jan 8, 2009.  23.9 does not have double up feature, however there are other game sets that do.  15.7  with double up win % control game set does for instance.

Well, Dormi, maybe...
I have two versions of the 23.9 manual (one you sent me a day or two ago, thank you!, and both very specifically
note the DoubleUpOption on the 23.9 chip!

However.....

1. Neither manual specifies how one activates the DoubleUp option. Curious, yes?

2. The manuals were both written by CalOmega, NOT CEI, maker of the actual machine.
Like several other companies, CEI used CalOmega boards, and usually chips, but it would not surprise
me to discover they put in their own "twists."

3. One manual specifies the 904 Game Board, the other specifies the 903-B (which I have) but says the
chip will work in a 904. However only one manual (as I recall) specifies the Motherboard (backplane):
that one refers to the 911 board; I have a 910. No clue what significant differences there may be between
the two.

4. There are different internal Control Boxes: both manuals refer to one with a Menu button; but the one
I have (and apparently you do too) does not have that button. Access to the Menu button is required for setup options
according to the manuals.

This is the kind of thing that drives folks nuts; but that what makes it fun.  Some day I will have a complete
selection of all backplanes, game boards, chips, and internal control boxes to  "contrast and compare".

1 Page 10 second manual not with this chipset, bottom line don't take their manuals too literally.  This manual applies to several of Cal Omega games

2 Cal Omega evolved into Casino Electronics same company

3 910 911 are interchangeable

4 That's the fun of owning this stuff  Endless puzzles to be figured out.

Well, I learn something every day.
CalOmega becoming CEI makes sense: CalOmega was
a California company, and would need a Nevada subsidiary to make gambling machines.
And I agree about not trusting their manuals: one I have is so bad, and so inaccurate,
and so ILLITERATE I have a hard time believing the writer was even sober.

But I will retain some skepticism for now, my apologies sir, on the DoubleUp option not being
on the 23.9 chip. There are an awful lot of MAME and arcade-game forum & website postings
that detail it, even with screenshots. What I would believe is that CEI/CalOmega made
chips using the 23.9 software, both with and without DoubleUp, and did not mark the chips differently.
It's possible they put it into chips marked 23.9 for sale to other (arcade) manufacturers.

Anyway, as you say, it's all part of the fun in this hobby. When I finally give up on that option,
I'll owe you a beer :151-